


Wallflower Appreciation

by lunaluvr17



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Sherlock (TV), Supernatural, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Perks of Being a Wallflower - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-21
Updated: 2016-11-23
Packaged: 2018-04-05 11:18:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4177800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunaluvr17/pseuds/lunaluvr17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a SuperWhoAvengeLock story. These heroes come together to save the world. How? By reading a bunch of letter from some nobody kid. Who would have guessed?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> AN: Here's the deal, I was at work the other day and a SuperWhoAvengeLock story idea came to me out of nowhere. What if I did a reading the books thing for a book that like no one does one of those fanfics for, and what if I made the characters of SuperWhoAvengeLock do the reading? Thus, this story was born. It was an interesting idea I just couldn't let go, please tell me I'm not insane for wanting this!
> 
> p.s The reading part belongs to Stephen Chbosky not me. But let's keep that on the down low alright :)

Sam and Dean Winchester were driving down Route 66 towards their next case in Texas. Dean was right in the middle of a crude joke, something about things being bigger in Texas than anywhere else.

To be honest Sam wasn't really paying attention, as per usual he was brooding. This time it was about Dean's little massacre at the house where Claire Novak was being held. Sam found a case as soon as he could after that incident, he thought if they could have some alone time, get back to the basics, it would help with his bloodlust.

Sam sighed as he looked at Dean and doubted his plan for the thousandth time. They'd been hunting since Dean got 'better' from being a living demon of all things, and it hadn't helped then. Right now, Sam really wasn't sure what could help them, or how things got so royally fucked up between them in the first place.

Just then a bolt of lightning struck the road right in front of them. This didn't bode well for several reasons. It was the middle of the night, no other cars were around but theirs, and it wasn't even raining. Dean cursed as he saw a lone figure standing where the lighting struck down and he skid to the side of the road.

Everything stood still and silent when the Impala was parked at least twenty feet away from the figure, who seemed to be staring at them. Then Dean growled and maybe it was the darkness of night but Sam could have sworn he saw a flash of black in his eyes.

Rubbing his neck at the whiplash of the crash, Sam got out of the car after his brother. Dean's face was set in a scowl as he inspected the damage to his tires, keeping the mystery man in his sights at all times. Sam went straight for the trunk, rifling through until he found two angel blades and two sawed-offs filled with rock salt. As he went back to Dean and handed him his share of weapons Sam observed that the figure was probably a man, tall and broad-shouldered, but he couldn't get anything more specific at this distance in such low light.

It was unnerving though, the man was standing at attention, seemingly entirely focused on them but not saying anything. With a nod to each other they approached the thing carefully. At this point in their lives Sam and Dean had been through so much together that they didn't need more than a look to know their plan of attack for any given situation. Dean approached head on while Sam flanked the man, coming up on him from behind in order to back Dean up should any problems arise.

When Dean was within spitting distance of the mystery man, who still hadn't moved, he held his gun steady on him as he said with forced frivolity,

"And who might you be big guy?"

The man said nothing. Dean shot a glance at Sam who simply shrugged. Looking back at the man Dean noticed him shift slightly in order to face Dean fully instead of the general direction in which they had both been standing. Eyes hardening Dean said,

"Hey now. What were you thinking? Flashing down like that in the middle of the road. You could've hurt someone. If I wasn't such an awesome driver you would have." Dean smiled at that last bit, pleased with himself, then he took the time to really study the man now that he was closer.

The Impala's headlights reflected eyes that were intense but not crazy like he'd expected. The guy was calm but serious. He had long blonde hair, down to his shoulders and… was that a cape?

Dean readjusted his grip on the gun and said,

"What are you anyway? 'Cuz sorry dude, but no way you're human after that lightning trip you just pulled." The man glanced behind him to where Sam stood stalwart, ready to take him down if the clenched jaw and suspicious gaze were anything to go by. The man- thing- didn't appear to feel threatened. He just refocused on Dean and said in a loud booming voice,

"Dean and Samuel Winchester. You have been called to help the Avengers on a matter of utmost importance. Please come with me." He held out his hand and the brothers looked at each other. Their eyes saying it all.

What the f-  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"-udge! Where is it?"

Sherlock was pacing. He was nervous, thus the pacing. And now he was rummaging. How had it come to this?

"Mrs. Hudson! Where is the fudge?! I need fudge, how does anyone expect me to work in this hell-hole without the least bit of fudge to keep me going. Stimulate the brain…." As Sherlock continued to speak to himself as he threw down the useless chips he had found and resumed pacing in front of his wall.

It had been six weeks since Moriarty had sent a video claiming to still be alive. Sherlock's crime was forgiven by the British government in exchange for his assistance in finding out what Moriarty was up to this time and stopping him.

Of course all of this required time and effort and planning and…. well, fudge. Obviously. Sighing Sherlock stopped pacing in front of the Clue Wall which showed nothing but dead ends. He sat in his chair and stared at John's empty one. The one he was supposed to be sitting in. John had promised he would make it into their old flat today to help Sherlock focus, or maybe take his mind off it. Who knows? Who cares?

Sherlock heaved another frustrated sigh. He hadn't anticipated Moriarty coming back. He had just spent all that time dismantling Moriarty's criminal network only to realize he'd been alive the whole time and probably building a new one. It was frustrating to the umpteenth degree.

He also hadn't anticipated John not being there for him like he used to be when they lived together. Sherlock was probably going through one of the toughest times of his life and where was his best friend? With his wife. Helping her with through the last stages of her pregnancy. Completely irresponsible!

Sherlock had to smirk at that. Because he really was happy for them and despite Mycroft's opinion to the contrary, he wasn't stupid. He knew this wasn't one of the toughest times in his life. Not even close. But since he had the luxury to complain Sherlock figured it was only fair that he did. After all, it's not like anyone can compare to him. Not in intellect nor in the amount of trouble he's experienced.

John can give him all the platitudes he wants about being a grown up and dealing with life's everyday issues like one. But the fact of the matter is that Sherlock's problems aren't like anyone else's and nobody but he is in any way capable of dealing with them. So guess what everyone who ever called me an ass! I'll deal with them however the hell I want!

Sherlock shakes his head because inner monologues can be useful on occasion but this one is starting to get a bit weird. A knock on the door interrupts his shaking and he looks at it curiously. A part of him hopes its John but he knows that is very unlikely because John would have at least texted before coming over unannounced.

After the fourth time they knocked Sherlock resigned himself to the fact that nobody else was going to get it for him and if he wanted to get back to figuring his life out he had to first answer the door.

Some people say that your life can change in a second, about the time it takes to open a door, but Sherlock had never put much stock in that. No, to him everything was a process. Moves and counter-moves. Choices that lead to an event which leads to people's lives being affected in small or large ways all of which happens over the course of days or weeks or even years. He never understood how people could think any differently. What prevented the 'norms' from seeing the big picture like he did?

Regardless, when he opened that door he could never have predicted that it would change his life like it did. That he would look back and realize just what the 'norms' always said were true. And that it had happened to him.

Opening the door Sherlock was not ashamed to admit that he became immediately flummoxed upon noting who it was on the other side. In fact he could not accurately think of one reason why this person should be in London at all, let alone knocking at his door. Taking a quick look at his watch to see how late it was he was further wondered to note it was nearing three in the morning. This action of course gave the appearance that he had been expecting this person and Sherlock was checking to see how late they were; which of course made the figure's grin widen to maddening proportions.

Sherlock quickly recovered his bearings, relieved that his mask hadn't slipped, as he calmly inquired,

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your company…. Mr. Stark?" Tony simply smiled and said,

"Trade secrets Mr. Holmes but if what I've heard about you is correct you already know." Then the billionaire leaned against the door jamb, casually revealing a limo with security and an adorably confused face of one John Watson in the open window. Looking back at the renowned genius with a smile full of mischief Sherlock replied,

"I rather think I do. What's the mission?"  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
They were all gathered around the table staring indiscriminately at each other. The Avengers scattered themselves amongst the newcomers as they studied the four people who were so infamous within SHIELD that they would be allowed into such an elite group as the Avengers, temporarily, to learn about….whatever it was that got the director riled up enough to call them all together like this. What a bother when they were each doing such important things elsewhere.

Dr. Banner sat back in his chair calmly observing the room and he noticed he was the only one who appeared to be calm. Well except Romanoff and Barton, but they didn't count. He sighed as he thought this because how could he think that with any confidence. It wasn't as though he were really friends with any of them. Tony was the closest and they hadn't talked in almost six months.

It had been nearly two years since the battle of New York and every member of the avengers were doing their own thing living their life and though they all had a strong camaraderie with each other it wasn't exactly like they kept in touch. Especially with Banner.

He always knew his condition was isolating, hell he isolated himself for most of the time that he has had this condition, but for moment there it had felt like maybe he could have friends again. It wasn't to be though. They all went their separate ways afterward and Banner had been exactly where he was before, isolating himself and trying to find a cure, when he got the call.

Each of them had gotten the same phone call from Director Fury saying the world was in danger again and they had to come together to put a stop to it. But that's not all, apparently they also had to bring a couple of other people into it as well. The Avengers had all been assured that these people were heroes in their own right, though they weren't given any background on why that might be and looking around at them now, Banner couldn't help but doubt it.

There was Sherlock Holmes sitting with his good friend John Watson. He was staring with judgement clear in his eyes at all of them, especially at the pair that sat nearest the doors. His mind was calculating their relationship and coming to the conclusion that they were either brothers or close cousins but definitely related. What annoyed Sherlock more than anything was that he had a pretty good idea about everyone in this room and their pasts except those two. All he knew was their names and their socio-economic status, obviously trained in military style fighting but not accustomed to working with strangers in a unit. They weren't famous like everyone else in the room, so why were they here? What do they do?

Sam and Dean Winchester were clearly uncomfortable. Whether that was from being in the presence of all these famous people, or because the famous people had powers, or because they were obviously richer than these two. Actually, there were a lot of possible reasons those two might be uncomfortable. But Banner couldn't say for sure which one it was until he knew more about them though he wasn't holding his breath on that. Hearing a frustrated sigh from his left got him smirking.

Tony was frustrated. So was he. This lack of information was infuriating. Normally if the world is in danger there is some sort of build up to the time when they had to get involved. They are usually aware of it before they have to meet up. But this came out of nowhere and they had nowhere to go in regards to how they put a stop to whatever it is.

Just then the uncomfortable silence was broken by the Director himself as he strode into the room with a large black briefcase. He quickly placed himself at the head of the table and stared them all down. A man of little words he didn't waste the groups time and just started right in with the spiel.

"I trust most of you in this room know who I am but for those of you who don't" A pointed look at Sam and Dean. "I am Nick Fury the director of SHIELD. That is a government agency that protects the people of Earth against those who would try to destroy it. Aliens, ancient magical creatures, insane humans what have you. Now I am afraid that one such situation has arisen." Here he ops the briefcase gingerly and Bruce is just confused because he doesn't think he has ever seen Fury look so unsure and… frightened.

He takes out a packet of papers, with varying degrees of age to each one, all stapled together and sets it in front of himself. He stares at it intently for a moment then looks at them just as intensely and it suddenly strikes Bruce that the director hasn't spoken to anyone in this room yet, not even his own team. He can't even imagine what the rest of them are feeling but for some reason despite everything Bruce has seen and done he is nervous. Fury looked over the assembled group and stated matter-of-factly,

"I have gathered you all here because you're important. And yes I know who you two are despite the impressive effort you have taken to stay off the grid." This was directed toward the brothers who shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

"I say impressive because even we do not know where you are at any given time which is why Thor had to be the one to bring you in. I know what you've done, you saved the world a few times and have dedicated your lives to saving others. Just as we all have." He concluded peering around the room once more before continuing to address everyone

"But there are some things that cannot be defeated alone. That simple fact is why I created the Avengers and why I must call you into fold as well because if we have any hope of saving the universe from total annihilation it must be together and it must be with this."

He looked down at the packet. and no one was quite sure what to say. So of course Tony had to add his opinion to the pot.

"Well that's not ominous at all. What is that?" He said in thinly veiled frustration. Dean snorted. "And what is this all about? If somethings wrong just tell us what it is so we can kick it's butt, take it's name, and get some shawarma."

"I second that, except for the schwarma thing. Seriously what is that?" Dean said to Sam who hit his arm and pointed to Fury who opened his mouth to respond only to be cut off by a strange creaking and groaning sound emanating from seemingly everywhere. Everyone in the room went on the defensive at once, hands going for their weapons and look for the source. Well, everyone except Sherlock. He just sat there calmly looking annoyed.

Everyone turned toward Fury as they saw what appeared to be a blue police box phase into existence behind him. Meanwhile Fury did not look at all perturbed. When the sound started he merely looked at his watch then turned to the box. Just then a man opened the door and walked out energetically, smiling like a little boy in a candy shop, and looking like one too with that bow tie. And all Fury had to say was,

"You're late." The strange man smiled even wider but his eyes grew sadder as he said,

"No I'm not I arrived exactly when I was supposed to. Or are you just trying to be dramatic for these lovely folks." He waved at them beaming. Everyone was putting away their weapons reluctantly and this man just kept on smiling and staring at them all. It was strange stare too. As if he knew everything about them and more. The Director just huffed and said gruffly,

"Well Now that we're all here, let's ge-"

"Wait a second who is this man you never said?" The tall man in plaid said abruptly. Sam Winchester Bruce reminded himself. The taller one who seemed more friendly than his glaring nodded earnestly as if he was about to ask the same thing.

"Alien."

"What." Sam said turning to Sherlock. Sherlock just raised an eyebrow at Sam and said,

"He's an alien not a man. Obviously." He turned to look interestedly at the man whose eyes shined in amusement while he said,

"And his name is The Doctor, but you can call me Doctor. Now, what is it we are supposed to be doing?" He had clapped his hands excitedly and was looking around at them for an explanation.

"You mean you don't know?" Bruce said feeling quite lost himself.

"All I know is that I was looking for a new adventure only to discover a note telling me the universe is in trouble, again, and I had to show up to this place and time in order to prevent it. So I came. Plus it sounded like fun, a mysterious note, a secret meeting of heroes, a packet of papers. What's not to enjoy?" He smiled at them all and everyone else had finally settled on an expression of bewilderment as they looked back at him. Fury reigned them all in with a cough and said,

"As I was saying. Now that everyone is here you may all take your seats and I will begin." With everyone seated he picked up the papers and said,

"I have been told by the most trusted source that contained in these letters, and yes they are a collection of letters that have fallen into my possession, is the answer to this problem we face."

"But we don't even know what the problem is?" It was Clint this time but that was hardly surprising.

"We do not need to. All you need to know is that reading these letters will solve it and maybe, so I'm told, even help all of you figure out the problems that have been plaguing you in your own lives." He smirked at them all as they turned thoughtful.

The Winchester brothers figured these letters were some kind of magical book but were curious enough to see where it led them. They knew enough of these faces from the News to know that the Avengers were good people, if a bit wacky, and the Winchesters certainly didn't mind letting someone else take the charge for a bit. This supposed impending doom aside, they had enough trouble on their hands.

Sherlock was more than curious about all this while John was just worried this was too dangerous for his friend. With everything else they had going on John didn't want Sherlock to get obsessed with yet another no win situation like he did with Moriarty and that German douche whose name John did not even like to think about.

The Doctor was curious too but he couldn't help but feel saddened by this turn of events. He had hoped this would be another fast paced adventure with lots of running and speeches and basically anything to take his mind off his best friends. But a story? Amy loved stories, ever since she was a child. And Rory would have been so confused and just sat next to Amy with that stupid face and cheered him up by telling him that reading something was just as much fun as running from dangerous creatures. It totally wasn't but it would've been sweet, like Rory.

The Doctor could see no way that these letters could help him with his grief and longing but the Tardis had practically begged to take him here by turning the dials to this place and time no matter where he set them to go. River seemed to think it was for the best too and he trusted her. But really, what could possibly be so important about these random letters?

The Avengers on the other hand were strangely calm. They had issues and problems like everyone else did, but they trusted the director's wisdom while these new people had no reason to. Now that they finally knew what had to be done they just wanted to do it. Steve did want to know though,

"What's it about?" Fury smirked and replied,

"Funnily enough I don't know. This will be my first time reading it. They were given to me just like this, no editing was done, and all I know from the source is that they were written by a boy named Charlie Kelmeckis. I don't know why this boy is important but we will find out." He opened the first page and his smirk deepened,

"It should be worth noting though, that my source found it necessary to include a title page. This story shall be called… The Perks of Being a Wallflower.


	2. Chapter 1

**August 25, 1991**

“Wow so this took place a while ago then.” John said. “Curious” Sherlock remarked in agreement.

“1991, Jesus we would have been about 12 and 8. Feels like forever ago.” Dean chuckled sadly.

**Dear Friend,**

**I am writing to you because she said you listen and understand and didn’t try to sleep with that person at that party even though you could have. Please don’t try to figure out who she is because then you might figure out who I am, and I really don’t want you to do that. I will call people by different names or generic names because I don’t want you to find me. I didn’t include a return address for the same reason. I mean nothing bad by this. Honest.**

**I just need to know that someone out there listens and understands and doesn’t try to sleep with people even if they could have. I need to know these people exist.**

“Okay”Tony nodded along humoredly and looked at the confused faces around the room.

**I think you of all people would understand that because I think you of all people are alive and appreciate what that means. At least I hope you do because other people look to you for strength and friendship and it’s that simple. At least that’s what I heard.**

“Okay is this for us? I mean like directly. He said dear friend but is he writing to us?” Natasha wondered. Sherlock answered,

“Of course not. Judging by the aged papers and the director’s own testimony these letters were written in 1991 when most of us were still kids”

“So who's he writing to? Should we be finding out? Is that the point?” Clint said leaning forward, eager to actually do something productive.

“I think the point is to finish the story, if you would all stop interrupting” Fury said harshly, staring them down.

**So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I am still trying to figure out how that could be.**

Steve, Dean and The Doctor all nodded along to this, understanding perfectly what Charlie means.

**I try to think of my family as a reason for me being this way, especially after my friend Michael stopped going to school one day last spring and we heard Mr.Vaughn’s voice on the loudspeaker.**

**“Boys and girls, I regret to inform you that one of our students has passed on. We will hold a memorial service for Michael Dobson during assembly this friday.”**

“Woah” Tony said as the mood in the room changed almost instantly. Whereas before there was some confused amusement now everyone became serious at this sudden piece of information.

**I don’t know how news travels around school and why it is very often right. Maybe it was in the lunchroom. It’s hard to remember. But Dave with the awkward glasses told us that Michael killed himself. His mom played bridge with one of Michael’s neighbors and they heard the gunshot.**

**I don’t really remember much of what happened after that except that my older brother came to Mr. Vaughn’s office in my middle school and told me to stop crying. Then, he put his arm on my shoulder and told me to get it out of my system before Dad came home. We went to eat french fries at McDonald’s and he taught me how to play pinball. He even made a joke that because of me he got to skip an afternoon of school and asked me if I wanted to help him work on his Camaro. I guess I was pretty messy because he never let me work on his Camaro before.**

Sam snorted, “Sounds like you Dean.” Dean just smiled softly thinking of past times spent working on his baby with Sam. Teaching him how to drive it and take care of it.

**At the guidance counselor sessions, they asked the few of us who actually like Michael to say a few words. I think they were afraid that some of us would try to kill ourselves or something because they looked very tense and one of them kept touching his beard.**

“Observant. Touching an object or part of one’s person is a common sign of anxiousness.” Sherlock commented.

**Bridget who is crazy said that sometimes she thought about suicide when commercials come on during TV. She was sincere and this puzzled the guidance counselors. Carl who is very nice to everyone said that he felt very sad, but could never kill himself because it is a sin. This one guidance counselor went through the whole group and finally came to me.**

**“What do you think, Charlie?”**

**What was so strange about this was the fact that I had never met this man because he was a “specialist” and he knew my name even though I wasn’t wearing a name tag like they do in open house.**

**“Well, I think that Michael was a nice guy and I don’t understand why he did it. As much as I feel sad, I think that not knowing is what really bothers me.”**

**I just reread that and it doesn’t sound like how I talk. Especially in that office because I was crying still. I never did stop crying. The counselor said that he suspected that Michael had “problems at home” and didn’t feel like he had anyone to talk to. That’s maybe why he felt all alone and killed himself.**

**Then, I started screaming at the guidance counselor that Michael could have talked to me. And I started crying even harder. He tried to calm me down by saying that he meant an adult like a teacher or a guidance counselor. But it didn’t work and eventually my brother came by the middle school in his Camaro to pick me up. For the rest of the school year, the teachers treated me different and gave me better grades even though I didn’t get any smarter. To tell you the truth, I think I made them all nervous.**

“Gee I wonder why?” Dean said sarcastically. “I mean who just bursts into tears at the drop off a hat and screams at people?”

“His best friend just killed himself Dean. He’s grieving, cut him a little slack.” Sam said tiredly. Dean replied,

“So? If he wants to be a man he needs to bury that shit and keep on keeping on. He needs to grow up.” Tony rolled his eyes at the man saying,

“Yeah, that’s healthy. He’s thirteen for pete’s sake he shouldn’t be anywhere near a man at his age.” The Captain nodded and said,

“For once I agree with Tony. What happened was horrible, kids killing themselves…” He shakes his head in disgust. “A child dying in any circumstance is horrible but… well a child dying ages you no matter who you. So if the kid is behaving immaturely, in your opinion, then fine. Let him be a kid while he still can.” Everyone was silent at this sudden proclamation and Dean looked angry. The Doctor was staring at the table pensively.

**Michael’s funeral was strange because his father didn’t cry. And three months later he left Michael’s mom. At least according to Dave at lunchtime. I think about it sometimes. I wonder what went on in Michael’s house around dinner and TV shows. Michael never left a note or at least his parents didn’t let anyone see it. Maybe it was “problems at home”. I wish I knew. It might make me miss him more clearly. It might have made sad sense.**

**One thing I do know is that it makes me wonder if I have “problems at home” but it seems to me that a lot of other people have it a lot worse. Like when my sister’s first boyfriend started going around with another girl and my sister cried for the whole weekend. My dad said, “There are other people who have it a lot worse.”**

“That’s a bit harsh.” John said look around for some support in his statement but found none. Everyone was silently agreeing that some people did have it worse, like them for instance.

**And my mum was quiet. And that was that. A month later, my sister met another boy and started playing happy records again. And my dad kept working. And my mom kept sweeping. And my brother kept fixing his Camaro. That is, until he left for college at the beginning of the summer. He’s playing football for Penn State but he needed the summer to get his grades right to play football.**

**I don’t think that there is a favorite kid in our family. There are three of us and I am the youngest. My brother is the oldest. He is a very good football player and likes his car. My sister is very pretty and mean to boys and she is in the middle. I get straight A’s now like my sister and that is why they leave me alone.**

**My mom cries a lot during TV programs. My dad works a lot and is an honest man. My Aunt Helen used to say that my dad was going to be too proud to have a midlife crisis. It took me until around now to know understand what she meant by that because he just turned forty and nothing has changed.**

Everyone laughed at that, most for the first time in ages. Dean in particular seemed surprised by his own amusement. The Doctor said,

“I second what the good Mr. Holmes said earlier, he is very observant. And so matter-of-fact about these things. He says these things with no judgement, he must be very kind.” The Doctor nodded sagely at his own words.

“You don’t know that. We’re halfway through the first letter. For all we know about the kid he could be a complete dick to other people.” Barton said. The Doctor just smiled at the challenge and said,

“Well, we’re just gonna have to read to prove my obvious rightness then aren’t we!” Most of the room rolled their eyes and turned back to Fury.

**My Aunt Helen was my favorite person in the whole world. She was my mom’s sister. She got straight A’s when she was a teenager and she used to give me books to read. My father said that the books were a little too old for me, but I liked them so he just shrugged and let me read.**

**My Aunt Helen lived with the family for that last few years of her life because something very bad happened to her. Nobody would tell me what happened then even though I always wanted to know. When I was around seven, I stopped asking about it because I kept asking like kids always do and my Aunt Helen started crying very hard.**

**That’s when my dad slapped me saying, “You’re hurting your aunt Helen’s feelings!”**

“Hey!” Sam called out at the packet as if Charlie’s father could hear him. Everyone tensed up at this line. Even Tony looked grim stating,

“That’s not right. The kid’s seven he didn’t mean to make her cry.” Dean nodded. He hated anyone hurting kids, it just wasn’t right no matter the circumstances.

**I didn’t want to do that, so I stopped. Aunt Helen told my father to hit me in front of her ever again and my father said this was his house and he would do what he wanted and my mom was quiet and so were my brother and sister.**

“Fucking asshole! Who does he think he is!” Dean said furiously. The Doctor looked just as upset but didn’t say anything and he didn’t need to because Dr. Banner voiced his thoughts,

“Maybe he does have “problems at home” like his friend” Everyone looked at him confused, and then they got it.

“Your saying is friend might have killed himself because of abuse and Charlie took it so hard because he was abused too.” John said hesitantly. Bruce shrugged,

“Maybe. Or maybe he was grieving his friend and he heard that his friend had trouble at home and he started projecting his own abuse. Because it definitely sounds from this like he was abused.” Everyone else nodded at this.

**I don’t remember much more than that because I started crying really hard and after a while my dad had my mom take me to my room. It wasn’t much later that my mom had a few glasses of white wine and told me what happened to her sister. Some people really do have it a lot worse than I do. They really do.**

“Dude what happened?! You can’t just leave it at that.” Dean sighed, running his hand through his hair. “This is so frustrating” he said to Sam. Sam smiled and agreed. Partly because he was frustrated and curious as well and partly because it was nice to see his brother worked up about something beside killing monsters.

**I should probably go to sleep now. It’s very late. I don’t know why I wrote a lot of this down for you to read. The reason I wrote this letter is because I start High school tomorrow and I am really afraid of going.**

**Love Always,**

**Charlie**

“Huh” Bruce said looking around at everyone. “Well, that was interesting.”

“I can’t believe he told us all of that about his family and stuff and that wasn’t even why he started the letter in the first place.” Dean said shaking his head. Barton followed up on that,

“That’s not to mention the fact that he’s afraid of going to high school so he feels like he needs to talk to someone about it, why?” Sherlock shook his head with obvious disdain at the gathered people’s poor attention to detail so he said,

“Well, his best friend just died what, five or six months ago. His family doesn’t seem too approachable so he’s reaching out to this random person he’s heard of. My question is who is he? And why does it matter whether or not the slept with someone this one time or not?” The all looked thoughtful at that except the Doctor. The doctor excitedly said,

 **  
**“Well, we will only find out by reading! Go, little horsie, go, go, go!!!” He pointed at Fury and started jumping up and down. Fury just shook his head and picked the packet back up, he turned the page and started to read the next letter.


	3. Chapter 2

**September 7, 1991**

**Dear Friend,**

**I do not like high school.** Dean snorted at this, “Yeah who does?”

**The cafeteria is called the “Nutrition Center,” which is strange. There is this one girl in my advanced english class named Susan. In middle school, Susan was very fun to be around. She liked movies, and her brother Frank made her tapes of this great music that she shared with us. But over the summer she had her braces taken off, and she got a little taller and prettier and grew breasts. Now, she acts a lot dumber in the hallways, especially when boys are around.**

Natasha shook her head at this but didn’t comment. Thor on the other hand just looked confused.

“Why does she do this? Is it some kind of human mating custom?” The Winchester brothers couldn’t help but snigger at this while some people, Tony, laughed outright. John cast an uncomfortable glance at Sherlock before speaking up,

“That’s just how kids, and even some adults, are. Especially at that age they feel a pressure to fit into the common mold and find a significant other or else they will be termed a loser or social outcast. High School can be especially brutal in that regard.”

“Well, that’s stupid.” Tony said rolling his eyes. Steve tensed up and said,

“What do you know about it. Didn’t you graduate college when you were fourteen or something? You’ve never been to High School.”

“Yes, I know, I’m a cut above the rest, but that doesn’t mean I’ve never been made fun of for being smart and I didn’t cave to peer pressure.”

“Give her a break, she’s only fourteen-” But before the Captain could continue this line of thought Natasha broke into the conversation,

“It’s different for girls. Women and girls aren’t expected to care about anything but looking desirable and getting a boyfriend. Especially at that age there is tremendous pressure to get a boyfriend and if you don’t have one it is either implied or stated outright that you don’t have any meaning or purpose. I know not everyone feels this way, not really. But it is still a collectively ingrained image in people’s mind that girls are supposed to be pretty and boy-crazy and their only interest should be what gets them those two things. So yeah it may sound stupid to you but look at it like this,  if she doesn’t pretend to be something she’s not there is a good chance she will be laughed at and ridiculed and nobody wants that. Whether it’s fair or not the fact is women just don’t have as many options as you.” Everyone was silent at this. Fury did not like this conversation. He didn’t think it was fair what women go through just for deserved respect but there was nothing he could do about the double standard so he would prefer it to be ignored. In an effort to do just that he kept reading aloud.

**And I think it’s sad because Susan doesn’t look as happy. To tell you the truth, she doesn’t like to admit she’s in the advanced english class, and she doesn’t like to say to me in the hall anymore.**

**When Susan was at the guidance counselor meeting about Michael, she said that Michael once told her that she was the prettiest girl in the world, braces and all.**

“Aawww. Se we’re not all a bunch of dill holes!” Tony said to diffuse the tension. Fury hurried on before any could keep that conversation going.

**Then, he asked her to “go with him,” which was a big deal at any school. They call it “going out” in high school. And they kissed and talked about movies, and she missed him terribly because he was her best friend.**

**It's funny, too, because boys and girls normally weren’t best friends around my school. But Michael and Susan were. Kind of like my Aunt Helen and me. I’m sorry. “My Aunt Helen and I.” That’s one thing I learned this week. That and more consistent punctuation.**

“Nerd.” Dean laughed with a pointed look at Sam who just said primly,

“Well proper pronunciation is important.” The Doctor laughed and clapped Sam on the shoulder,

“Too true. And how sweet is it that he considers his Aunt his best friend. If only all relative could be so respectful.” he said, thinking of his own Mother and Father-in-law.

“Sure, or it could be completely lame and sad. I mean his Aunt’s dead.” Dean said shaking his head.

**I keep quiet most of the time, and only one kids named Sean really seemed to notice me. He waited for me after gym class and said really immature things like how he was going to give me a “swirlie,” which is where someone sticks your head in the toilet and flushes to make your hair swirl around. He seemed pretty unhappy as well, and I told him so. Then he got mad and started hitting me, and I just did the things my brother taught me to do. My brother is a very good fighter.**

**“Go for the knees, throat, and eyes.”**

**And I did. And I really hurt Sean. And then I started crying. And my sister had to leave her senior honors class and drive me home.**

Everyone looked at each other, perturbed by this strange scene. Steve finally gathered his breath and said in a strained sort of voice,

“That’s a...different way to react to a fight. I mean…” He let loose his breath and looked around. Tony took up the slack and asked,

“I mean he won right?” Everyone nodded. “So why is he crying?” Nobody had an answer for that.

**I got called to Mr. Small’s office, but I didn’t get suspended or anything because a kid told Mr. Small the truth about the fight.**

 

**“Sean started it. It was self-defense.”**

 

**And it was I just don’t understand why Sean wanted to hurt me. I didn’t do anything to him. I am very small. That’s true. But I guess Sean didn’t know I could fight. The truth is I could have hurt him a lot worse. And maybe I should have. I thought I might have to if he came after the kid who told Mr. Small the truth, but Sean never did go after him. So, everything was forgotten.**

 

**Some kids look at me strange in the hallways because I don’t decorate my locker, and I’m the one who beat up Sean and couldn’t stop crying after he did it. I guess I’m pretty emotional.**

There was some general chuckling at this.

**It has been very lonely because my sister is busy being the oldest one in our family. My brother is busy being a football player at Penn State. After the training camp, his coach said that he was second string and that when he starts learning the system, he will be first string.**

**My dad really hopes he will make it to pros and play for the Steelers. My mom is just glad he gets to go to college for free because my sister doesn’t play football, and there wouldn’t be enough money to send both of them. That’s why she wants me to keep working hard, so I’ll get an academic scholarship.**

**So that’s what I’m doing until I meet a friend here. I was hoping that the kid who told the truth could become a friend of mine, but I think he was just being a good guy by telling.**

**Love Always,**

**Charlie**

Everyone was still smiling and looking amused by the end of the letter.

“This kid is too much.” ony burst out and Thor quickly agreed,

“He is very amusing with the heart of a poet. A child of extreme good fortune.”

“What’s that mean?” Dean asked Sam. Sam rolled his eyes but before he could answer Sherlock chimed in,

“It’s a flowery way of saying the boy is blessed or has many talents. While true enough in terms of his intelligence, he certainly seems to have above average intelligence, something is definitely wrong with him.”

 **  
**“Wrong?” John said, confused. But Sherlock refused to elaborate and everyone was looking forward to the next letter. They all, even those not admitting it, wanted to find out more about this weird but sweet kid.


	4. Letter 3

**September 11, 1991**

 

**Dear Friend,**

 

**I don’t have a lot of time because my advanced english teacher assigned us a book to read, and I like to read books twice.**

 

“Nerd.” Dean said, sighing and shaking his head. This was the second or third time he said it and certain members of the room were not amused. Sherlock in particular looked like he was fed up with this...neanderthal putting down anyone, even his own brother, for being intelligent.

 

**Incidentally, the book is** **_To Kill a Mockingbird_ ** **. If you haven’t read it, I think you should because it is very interesting.**

 

“Too true.” The Doctor said cheerfully looking around. He was the only one not perturbed by Dean’s attitude toward book learning. In fact he seemed determined to provide the opposite reaction to Dean’s negative comments every time Dean commented negatively.

 

**The teacher has assigned us a few chapters at a time, but I do not read books like that. I am halfway through the first time.**

 

**Anyway, the reason I am writing to you is because I saw my brother on television. I normally don’t like sports too much, but this was a special occasion. My mother started crying, and my father put his arm around her shoulder, and my sister smiled, which is funny because my brother and sister always fight when he’s around.**

 

Everyone just smiled like they knew what he was talking about… except Sherlock who simply said,

 

“Yes, family is strange that way.”

 

**But my older brother was on television, and so far, it has been the highlight of my two weeks in high school. I miss him terribly, which is strange, because we never really talked much when he was here. We still don’t talk to be honest.**

 

**I would tell you his position but like I said, I would like to be anonymous to you. I hope you understand.**

 

**Love Always,**

**Charlie**

“That’s it?” Steve said. Everyone looked questioningly towards Fury who just shrugged.

“I guess he didn’t have much to write this time.” He turned the page.


	5. Letter 4

**September 16, 1991**

 

**Dear Friend,**

 

**I have finished** **_To Kill a Mockingbird_ ** **. It is now my favorite book of all time, but then again, I always think that until I read another book.**

 

“Ha, Ha! I like this boy’s style!” The Doctor said, grinning like a maniac. He really liked this boy, Charlie reminded the Doctor of Rory in a way. So sweet and meek. Except he had such a passion for books and knowledge and was far  more empathetic than anyone the Doctor had ever met. Something about this kid just made the Doctor want to hug him and make everything alright for him.

 

**My english teacher asked me to call him “Bill” when we’re not in class, and he gave me another book to read. He says that I have a great skill at reading and understanding language, and he wanted me to write an essay about** **_To Kill a Mockingbird._ **

 

**I mentioned this to my mom, and she asked why Bill didn’t recommend that I just take a sophomore or junior english class. And I told her that Bill said that these were basically the same classes with more complicated books, and that it wouldn’t help me. My mom said that she wasn’t sure and would talk to him during open house. Then, she asked me to help her by washing the dishes, which I did.**

 

**Honestly, I don’t like doing dishes.** Everyone smiled at this because, who does? And Bruce started poking Tony’s arm and Sam gave Dean a pointed look. The atmosphere was so relaxed Fury dreaded reading on because he knew something bad had to happen to this kid.  _ Why else would we have been ordered to read about him? _

 

**I like eating with my fingers and off napkins, but my sister says that doing so is bad for the environment. She is a part of the Earth Day Club here in high school, and that is where she meets the boys. They are all very nice to her, and I don’t really understand why except maybe the fact that she is pretty. She really is mean to these boys.**

  
  
  


**One boy in particular has it particularly hard. I won’t tell you his name. But I will tell you all about him. He has very nice brown hair, and he wears it long with a ponytail. I think he will regret this when he looks back on his life.**

 

Snorts and head nodding all around at that.

**He is always making mix tapes for my sister with very specific themes. One was called “Autumn Leaves.” He included many songs by the Smiths. He even hand-colored the cover. After the movie he rented was over, and he left, my sister gave me the tape.**

 

**“Do you want this, Charlie?”**

 

“Well, that’s rude. He made that for her and it was such a sweet gesture. She is mean.” Bruce said grumpily sitting back in his chair with arms crossed.

 

**I took the tape but I felt weird about it because he made it for her. But I listened to it. And I loved it very much. There is one song called “Asleep” that I would like you to listen to. I told my sister about it. And a week later she thanked me because when this boy asked her about the tape, she said exactly what I said about the song “Asleep,” and this boy was very moved by how much it meant to her. I hope this means I will be good at dating when the time comes.**

 

Natasha couldn’t help but smiling at that. This boy seemed so innocent, it was sweet. Looking around she noticed some other smirks. Dean, in fact, looked as if he was thinking of all the things he could teach the boy. Rolling her eyes at him she continued to listen.

 

**I should stick to the subject, though. That is what my teacher Bill tells me to do because I write kind of the way I talk. I think that is why he wants me to write that essay about** **_To Kill a Mockingbird._ **

 

**This boy who likes my sister is always respectful to my parents. My mom likes him very much because of this. My dad thinks he’s soft. I think that’s why my sister does what she does to him.**

 

Fury paused there because there was a singular thought running through everyone’s mind, causing tension.  _ What does she do to him? _ The Doctor and Fury looked at each other, clearly expecting this to be the big reveal of why this story was important.

 

**This one night she was saying very mean things about how he didn’t stand up to the class bully when he was fifteen or something like that. To tell you the truth, I was just watching the movie he had rented, so I wasn’t paying very close attention to their fight. They fight all the time, so I figured that the movie was at least something different, which it wasn’t because it was a sequel.**

 

Dean snorted very loudly at that line. Causing some of the tension to ebb. 

 

**Anyway, after she leaned into him for about four movie scenes, which I guess is about ten minutes or so, he started crying. Crying very hard.**

 

“Woah.” Tony said, startled. He looked around disbelievingly and noticed that most people had the same expression.Only Dean looked angry and Sam wasn’t that much better.

 

“What the hell girl! Give the guy a break.” Dean said vehemently and Sam nodded beside him looking kind of sick.

 

**Then, I turned around, and my sister pointed at me.**

 

**“You see. Even Charlie stood up to his bully. You see.”**

 

**And this guy got really red-faced. And he looked at me. Then, he looked at her. And he wound up and hit her hard across the face. I mean hard.**

 

“Wait, what?” Tony said, again gobsmacked. Everyone had jerked back like they had been hit when that line was read because they just were not expecting that.

 

“So, not cool.” Clint said quietly eyes blazing.

 

“Yeah, I don’t care how mean she was being, you don’t hit someone just because you don’t like what they say. Especially when you’re in a relationship with that person.” Tony yelled.

 

“What kind of man hits a woman.” Steve said angrily while John and the Doctor just shook their heads sadly. Everyone started to get riled up and Fury had to lay down the law to get them quiet so he could finish. Once they were quiet they looked at Fury to see what would happen.

 

**I just froze because I couldn’t believe he did it. It was not like him at all to hit anybody. He was the boy that made mix tapes with themes and hand-colored covers until he hit my sister and stopped crying.**

 

Natasha snorted and said sarcastically, “Yeah that’ll do it”

**The weird part is that my sister didn’t do anything. She just looked at him very quietly. It was so weird. My sister goes crazy if you eat the wrong kind of tuna, but here was this guy hitting her, and she didn’t say anything. She just got soft and nice.**

 

Almost everyone in the room looked very confused at this. They all looked at each other while Dean mouthed to Sam “ _ What the Fuck _ ”.

 

**And she asked me to leave, which I did. After the boy had left, she said that they were “going out” and not to tell mom or dad what happened.**

 

“WHAT!”

“No, come on!” 

Condemnations, outrage and confusion filled the room as almost everyone was befuddled as to this strange turn of events.

“Why would she stay with him after he did that?”

“It’s actually quite common for abuse victims to do that. They blame themselves and stay because they think they can do better and it won’t happen.” The Doctor said sadly looking to the brothers Winchester who had become very quiet after the hit. Dean’s face was disgusted while Sam seemed to be stewing in his seat about something.

 

“Ok, but-” Steve was interrupted by Fury.

“Let’s just finish reading we’re almost done with this letter.” Everyone quieted down.

 

**I guess he stood up to his bully. And I guess that makes sense.**

 

Everyone exhaled in frustration at this. A lot were shaking their heads. Some with arms crossed.

 

**That weekend, my sister spent a lot of time with this boy. And they laughed a lot more than they usually did. On Friday night, I was reading my new book, but my brain got tired, so I decided to watch some television instead. And I opened the door to the basement, and my sister and this boy were naked.**

 

**He was on top of her, and her legs were draped over either side of the couch. And she screamed at me in a whisper.**

 

**“Get out. You pervert.”**

 

The superheroes were seething in frustration. Captain Rogers actually squealed slightly with the effort to stay quiet and let Fury finish despite Steve’s anger at the situations Charlie keeps witnessing.

 

**So, I left. The next day, we all watched my brother play football. And my sister invited this boy over. I am not sure when he left the previous night. They held hands and acted like everything was happy. And this boy said something about how the football team hasn’t been the same since my brother graduated, and my dad thanked him. And when the boy left, my dad said that this boy was becoming a fine young man who could carry himself. And my mom was quiet. And my sister looked at me to makes sure I wouldn’t say anything. And that was that.**

 

Tony rolled his eyes and looked out the window, fed up. Bruce was red in the eyes and would not look up from the floor. Everyone else had varying looks of disgust, frustration, sadness, and anger.

 

Dean snorted silently thinking,  _ Yes he’s a fine young man now that he proves he can beat up his girlfriend. _

 

**“Yes. He is” That’s all my sister could say. And I could see this boy at home doing his homework and thinking about my sister naked. And I could see them holding hands at football games that they do not watch. And I could see this boy throwing up in the bushes at a party house. And I could see my sister putting up with it.**

 

Natasha closed her eyes and shook her head slowly.

 

**And I felt very bad for both of them.**

 

**Love always,**

**Charlie**

 

There was silence for a few moments. Then Tony tried to lighten the mood.

  
“Well, Shit.” He said loudly smiling sadly. Everyone gave faint smiles but it didn’t last. They were all too lost in their thoughts. Despite the fact that nothing earth shattering or apocalyptically important happened in this letter, everyone looked just as grim as if there had been.


	6. Letter 5

As Fury turned over the letter to read the next one Dr. Banner raised his hand and said,

“Sorry I need a moment… I don’t know how to process... that.” He gestured forcefully at the letter they just read with a nauseous look on his face.

 

“Which part?” Natasha asked.

 

“I don’t know. All of it? It’s just..” He looked down frustrated and red in the face. He looked up after a moment to find everyone looking at him. He rolled his eyes and said simply,

“It’s just wrong on so many levels. Levels I don’t think I can even name. I don’t know how Charlie, at fourteen, could deal with..witnessing that like he did. Both incidents!” He sighed and shook his head, apparently giving up on speech all together. Tony took up the slack,

 

“I’m with the Green Giant on this one. What was it the kid said. That the boy who hit his sister just stood up to his bully... and that it makes sense! How can he be so.. So..” 

 

“Understanding of both sides?” The Doctor chimed in with a small smile.

 

“Both sides? This guy hit her. He had so many options of how to deal with her unfair demands and he  chose to hit his girlfriend. There aren’t any other sides.” Sam said with vehemence. Most of the room, especially the Captain, nodded. In fact the Captain had more to bring to the subject,

 

“What about what she did after. She was just yelling at him and insulting him, but he hits her and suddenly she feels better about him as a person and the relationship as a whole. So much so that she feels safe and secure enough in the relationship to have sex with him a few days later. And GET MAD AT CHARLIE FOR INTERRUPTING!” He said all of this while hardly taking a breath. His voice steadily rising as his anger became more apparent and his face turned maroon, until by the end of his rant he was yelling and breathing hard.

 

Everyone was shocked by his outburst. Most of them, with the exception of Tony, had never heard him raise his voice before. And even Tony had never seen him this mad before. In battle he was calm and calculated, his moral compass and military training making him confident in his decisions on the battlefield without much room for other more careless emotions. So this was really a first for him.

 

John was the only one to answer,

 

“As a doctor I have seen many cases of abuse. Abuse takes all forms and while it might not make sense to us, the idea that the person you are with is strong enough to put you in your place when you deserve it is actually a comfort. It’s a twisted way of thinking that is most often conditioned in someone throughout their life.” He shrugged looking sad. Sherlock looked at him in bewilderment. Sherlock had been listening throughout the last few letters trying to detect any detail that might indicate why this boy is so important to saving the world. He wasn’t having much luck.

 

Even though he wasn’t being vocal about it he didn’t think it was right for Charlie’s sister to be hit. Or for Charlie to be hit by his father. But all in all it’s not as though it’s never been done before. So far so boring. 

 

But these people were acting like they had never in their lives before this moment knew that domestic abuse existed. He wanted to roll his eyes at their reactions but thought better of it and just listened to the conversation, until John said something astonishing. Astonishing because he, Sherlock, for once, did not understand.

 

“What do you mean conditioned?” He questioned looking at John intensely. John seemed to fluster for a moment under the look but replied easily enough,

 

“Well most people, women especially, fall into the trap of domestic abuse because of low self-esteem. They don’t feel like they deserve to be happy or they don’t think they are worth much or some such non-sense. So they find someone to treat them that way. But how do you get low self esteem in the first place, hm?” He looked at them all and continued when everyone else seemed at a loss. Even the Doctor was looking at with an interest to learn something new.

 

“Someone somewhere along the line told you as much, most likely repeatedly. That’s called verbal abuse. Other situations over the years seem to point in the direction of being your fault or they gave credence to your poor self image. Maybe someone said so or you  _ just know, _ maybe sometimes it is your fault but it all adds up to the same thing. You take all the experiences and heartbreaks and circumstances and negative words you’ve accumulated over the years and before you even know it you have been conditioned to being attracted to the same kind abusive personality it seems you’ve always known. In one form or another.”

 

Complete silence. Everyone was pensively thinking over their lives and relationships. John didn’t need to though. He realized halfway through that he was partly talking about himself, not just things he noticed with patients. His speech reminded John of a similar one Sherlock gave about him when he found out about Mary’s previous life.  _ Is it really any wonder that the woman you fell in love with would conform to that pattern? _

 

“When put like that I suppose it does make sense.” Sherlock said objectively. “Based on the previous scenes mentioned about Charlie’s family there is some evidence to support a theory that Charlie’s Father was physically abusive or verbally abusive. The scene where he slapped Charlie certainly painted him as having a controlling personality of an abuser.”

 

“Or maybe she witnessed something with her Aunt.” Dean added. Sam looked at him in surprise. Shrugging he continued, “I mean it was hinted very heavily that their Aunt Helen lived with them for the last few years of her life because of an abusive relationship of some sort. All that talk about some people having it worse. Maybe it runs in the family.” Dean glanced at Sam with some hidden meaning behind the look that no one else understood. Sam nodded and look down, thinking. Fury interrupted everyone’s thoughts when he said sarcastically,

 

“That’s great. Glad we sorted that out. Can I keep going?”

Everyone nodded sheepishly embarrassed.

 

**September 18, 1991**

 

**Dear Friend,**

 

**I never told you that I am in shop class, did I? Well, I am in shop class, and it is my favorite class next to Bill’s advanced english class. I wrote the essay for** **_To Kill a Mockingbird_ ** **last night, and I handed it in to Bill this morning. We are supposed to talk about it tomorrow during lunch period.**

 

Most of the room ignored this mention of the teacher although a few did note it as odd.

 

**The point, though, is that there is a guy in shop class named “Nothing.” I’m not kidding. His name is “Nothing.” And he is hilarious.**

 

“Better be with a name like Nothing!” Tony broke the still somber mood from before.

 

**“Nothing” got his name when kids used to tease him in middle school. I think he’s a senior now. The kids started calling him Patty when his real name is Patrick. And “Nothing” told these kids, “Listen, you either call me Patrick, or you call me nothing.”**

 

**So, the kids started calling him “Nothing.” And the name just stuck. He was a new kid in the school district at the time because his dad married a new woman in this area. I think I will stop putting quotation marks around Nothing’s name because it is annoying and disrupting my flow. I hope you do not find this difficult to follow. I will make sure to differentiate if something comes up.**

 

The started to laugh a little at that. By way of explanation he said, “It’s like I was saying before. This boy is just such an understanding and considerate kid! It’s funny how sweet he is.” His mood was light but when his chuckling died down so did his enthusiasm. When Fury started reading again The Doctor had a deep, concentrated look on his face. For those looking closely, they might have been able to detect a hint of worry.

 

**So, in shop class Nothing started to do a very funny impersonation of our teacher, Mr. Callahan. He even painted in the mutton-chop sideburns with a grease pencil. Hilarious. When Mr. Callahan found Nothing doing this near the belt sander, he actually laughed because Nothing wasn’t doing the impersonation mean or anything. It was just funny. I wish you could have been there because it was the hardest I’ve laughed since my brother left. My brother used to tell Polish jokes, which I know is wrong, but I just blocked out the Polish part and listened to the jokes. Hilarious.**

 

“Bit racist, that.” John said with more than a little, but not quite a lot of, judgment. 

 

**Oh, incidentally, my sister asked for her “Autumn Leaves” mix tape back. She listens to it all the time now.**

 

**Love Always,**

**Charlie**

The room, which had finally started to lighten up, fell into tense silence. All of them thinking about John’s words from before.


	7. Chapter 6

Fury turned over the last letter to reveal a longer one. Everyone around the table looked at each other a bit confused because they could clearly see on this paper large blots of ink and smears from writing too fast. The paper itself was pretty rumpled, as if it had been crumpled and uncrumpled several times. Sherlock even noted to the group that in some places Charlie had pressed his pen so hard into the paper that he had torn it a little. So it was with a bit of apprehension that Fury started to recite the letter to them.

**September 29, 1991**

**Dear Friend,**

**There is a lot to tell you about the last two weeks. A lot of it is good, but a lot of it is bad. Again, I don’t know why this always happens.**

The doctor smiles at that because he knows exactly what Charlie means.

**First of all, Bill gave me a C on my** **_To Kill a Mockingbird_ ** **essay because he said that I run my sentences together. I am trying now to practice not to do that. He also said that I should use the vocabulary words that I learn in class like “corpulent” and “jaundice.” I would use them here, but I really don’t think they are appropriate in this format.**

**To tell you the truth, I don’t know where they are appropriate to use. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t know them. You should absolutely. But I just have never heard anyone use the words “corpulent” and “jaundice” ever in my life. That includes teachers. So, what’s the point of using words nobody else knows or can say comfortably? I just don’t understand that.**

“No one does Charlie, it’s all ridiculous.” Sam elbowed his brother in retort of that statement. Sherlock rolled his eyes and and told Dean,

“You’re talking to an inanimate object.”

“You don’t know that!” He replied, “For all we know about these letters they could be magic and feeding our reactions directly to Charlie Kelmeckis himself.”

“Ridiculous! Magic is just the word people use to describe a kind of science we haven’t figured out yet.” There several nods around the room at this but Dean just rolled his eyes and said.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, man.” He waved a hand for Fury to continue.

**I feel the same way about movie stars who are terrible to watch. Some of these people must have a million dollars at least, and yet, they keep doing these movies. They blow up bad guys. They yell at their detectives. They do interviews for magazines. Every time I see this one particular movie star on a magazine, I can’t help but feel terribly sorry for her because nobody respects her at all, and yet they keep interviewing her.**

“Ok, is this kid for real?” Natasha said laughingly. Looking around at everyone she continues,

“I mean I don’t know any guys, let alone a fourteen-year-old guy who really thinks about or feels bad for women who are victims of double standards. I don’t even pay attention to it most of the time. If I thought about this movies star at all I would probably just think it was typical and move on. How can he be so… so…?” She hits clint in the arm, hard. Rubbing it he thinks for the word and then finishes her sentence,

“Empathetic?” She nods enthusiastically, “Exactly, I mean have any of you ever thought this way about women who are on magazines?” All of the guys just looked at each other. Some of them simply shook their heads no, like Sherlock and the Doctor. John and Sam and Bruce all seemed slightly worried that they never noticed this. 

Steve couldn’t help but be disappointed in both himself and his entire gender. This disappointment was doubled when Tony turned to Natasha with a big smile and said,

“I’m mainly thinking about how hot they are whenever I see these magazines.” Dean and Thor both nodded. Natasha just rolled her eyes while Steve hit him upside the head.

**And the interviews are all the same thing.**

**They start with what food they are eating in some resturant. “As ________ gingerly munched her Chinese Chicken Salad, she spoke of love.” And all the covers say the same thing: “___________ gets to the bottom of stardom, love, and his/her hit new movie/television show/album.”**

**I think it’s nice for stars to do interviews to make us think they are just like us, but to tell you the truth, I get the feeling that it’s all a big lie. The problem is I don’t know who’s lying. And I don’t know why these magazines sell as much as they do. And I don’t know why the ladies in the dentist’s office like them as much as they do.**

“Jeez, he’s thinking awfully deeply about something so ordinary. I mean it’s just magazines!” Bruce exclaimed shaking his head. The feeling was shared around the room, even by Sherlock. 

**A Saturday ago, I was in the dentist’s office, and I heard this conversation.**

**“Did you see that movie?” as she points to the cover.**

**“I did. I saw it with Harold.”**

**“What do you think?”**

**“She is just lovely.”**

**“Yeah. She is.”**

**“Oh, I have this new recipe.”**

**“Low-fat?”**

**“Uh-huh.”**

**“Do you have some time tomorrow?”**

**“No. Why don’t you have Mike fax it to Harold?”**

**“Okay.”**

**Then, these two ladies started talking about the one star I mentioned before, and they both had very strong opinions.**

**“I think it’s disgraceful.”**

**“Did you read the interview in** **_Good Housekeeping_ ** **?”**

**“A few months back?”**

**“Uh-huh.”**

**“Disgraceful.”**

**“Did you read the one in Cosmopolitan?”**

**“No.”**

**“God, it was practically the same interview.”**

**“I don’t know why they give her the time of day.”**

“Okay these ladies need to calm down. I mean, what did this woman ever do to them?” Sam said confused. Dean replied,

“Nothing Sam that’s the point. Older people love to gossip and judge that’s just what they do. Don’t you remember all those busybodies when we were kids that were always trying to get on Dad for how he raised us? Or me for how I dressed?” Sam shrugged because he did remember them and he also remember agreeing with them.

**The fact that one of these ladies was my mom made me feel particularly sad because my mom is beautiful. And she’s always on a diet. Sometimes, my dad calls her beautiful, but she cannot hear him. Incidentally, my dad is a very good husband. He’s just pragmatic.**

**“** What’s that even mean?” Tony said to Steve. Steve just shrugged looking bewildered but amused.

**After the dentist’s office, my mom drove me to the cemetery where a lot of her relatives are buried. My dad does not like to go to the cemetery because it gives him the creeps. But I don’t mind going at all because my Aunt Helen is buried there. My mom was always the pretty one, as they say, and my Aunt Helen was always the other one. The nice thing was my Aunt Helen was “corpulent.” Hey, I did it!**

Dean snorts, “Yeah good job kid.” 

Everyone else was smiling so fondly at the letters that Sherlock didn’t even bother to point out that Dean was talking to an inanimate object.

**My Aunt Helen would always let us stay up and watch** **_Saturday Night Live_ ** **when she was babysitting or when she was living with us and my parents went to another couple’s house to get drunk and play board games.**

“Yeah I’m sure that’s all they did. ha ha, up top!” Tony said laughing going in for a high five with Dean. Sam and Steve rolled their eyes at the childish behavior.

“He’s very observant isn’t he.” Clint muttered thoughtfully to Natalie. She nodded a bit somber, her instincts alerting her to something not quite right. Though she had no idea what it could be.

“And very mature for his age. He was seven when his aunt died so he knew about drinking and parties before that.” A loud cough interrupted their pensive chat and they swiveled to face Fury, who had stopped in the middle of a paragraph for this entire exchange. Cowed by his stare everyone refocused.

**When I was very little, I remember going to sleep, while my brother and sister and Aunt Helen watched** **_Love Boat_ ** **and** **_Fantasy Island_ ** **. I could never stay awake when I was little, and I wish I could, because my brother and sister talk about those moments sometimes.**

Fury paused for a second or two having seen what was written next and then continued with a small smile and an understanding tone of voice.

**Maybe it’s sad that these are now memories. And maybe it’s not sad. And maybe it's just the fact that we loved Aunt Helen, especially me, and this was the time we could spend with her.**

For once the Doctor wasn’t smiling. This philosophical reasoning had a strong effect on everyone as they all started to remember the people they have loved and lost. But the Doctor had lost so many...he was at a loss for words. Charlie’s simple summarization of his feelings had affected everyone and they were silent as they grew pensive. Though Tony and Sherlock were restless to move on from their own memories.

**I won’t start listing television episode memories, except one because I guess we’re on the subject,** Tony snorted at that.. **and it seems like something everyone can relate to in some small way. And since I don’t know you , I figure I can write something that you can relate to.**

**The family was sitting around watching the final episode of** **_M*A*S*H_ ** **. And I’ll never forget it even though I was very young. My mom was crying. My sister was crying. My brother was using every ounce of strength he had not to cry. And my dad left during one of the final moments to make a sandwich. Now, I don’t remember much about the program itself because I was too young, but my dad never left to make a sandwich except during commercial breaks, and then he usually just sent my mom. I walked to the kitchen, and I saw my dad making a sandwich… and crying. He was crying harder than even mom. And I couldn’t believe it.**

“That was unexpected.” Steve said with wide eyes. He turned to look at everyone else who was just as bewildered.

“Yeah, and to think he reminded me of our dad.” Dean said to Sam with a roll of his eyes. Sam looked thoughtful when he replied,

“The way he was described earlier did give that impression. After he hit Charlie I thought he seemed like a hard man who never compromised. We even thought he might be abusive. Now here he is, crying over a TV show.”

“That doesn’t mean he isn’t abusive. We still don’t know what he did when he found out Charlie saw him crying.” Tony said, looking slightly worried. Fury nodded at that and kept reading.

**When he finished making his sandwich, he put away the things in the refrigerator and stopped crying and wiped his eyes and saw me.**

**Then, he walked up, patted my shoulder, and said, “This is our little secret, okay, champ?”**

**“Okay,” I said.**

Everyone looked at each other, confused at Mr. Kelmeckis’s reaction to being caught.

**And Dad picked me up with the arm that wasn’t holding the sandwich, and carried me to the room that had the television, and put me on his lap for the rest of the episode. At the end of the episode, he picked me up, turned off the TV, and turned around.**

**And my dad declared, “That was a great series.”**

**And my mom said, “The best.”**

**And my sister asked, “How long was it on the air?”**

**And my brother replied, “Nine years, stupid.”**

**And my sister responded, “You...Stupid.”**

Tony snorted, amused. “Good Come-back.”

**And my dad said, “Stop it, right now.”**

**And my mom said, “Listen to your father.”**

**And my brother said nothing.**

**And my sister said nothing.**

**And years later I found out my brother was wrong.**

“Ooooh, really how exciting!” Tony said sarcastically. Steve jabbed his elbow at him but Sherlock smirked because he agreed with the sentiment.

**I went to the library to look up the figures, and I found out that the episode we watched is the highest watched anything of television history, which I find amazing because it felt like just the five of us.**

Dean and Sam smiled at each other, remembering similar feelings about television growing up.

**You know… a lot of kids at school hate their parents. Some of them got hit. And some of them got caught in the middle of wrong lives. Some of them were trophies for their parents to show the neighbors like ribbons or gold stars. And some of them just wanted to drink in peace.**

The smiles around the room were all gone at this observation of Charlie’s. This was something everyone in the room, no matter how alien or odd, could relate to.

**For me personally, as much as I don’t understand my mom and dad and as much as I feel sorry for both of them sometimes, I can’t help but love them very much. My mom drives to visit the cemetery of people she loves. My dad cried during M*A*S*H, and trusted me to keep his secret, and let me sit on his lap, and called me “champ.”**

**Incidentally, I only have one cavity, and as much as my dentist asks me to, I just can’t  bring myself to floss.**

**Love Always,**

**Charlie**

Surprised laughter rang through the room after that last line. Some people, like the Doctor and Bruce and John still had tears in their eyes from the sad, but sweet, last paragraph. But even still everyone was hit by relieved laughter after the somewhat tense melancholy of the letter. Even Sherlock was chuckling fondly. Natalie was the first to stop though, eager as she was to talk about something odd she noticed and kept track of throughout the letter.

Once everyone had calmed down The Black Widow spoke,

“It’s kind of weird isn’t it? He didn’t talk about what he said he would.”

“What do you mean?” John asked, confused and still a little giddy from the cathartic laughter.

“She’s talking about the disclaimer at the beginning of the letter. Charlie didn’t follow through on his promise to tell us about the last two weeks between letters. I’m surprised you caught that.” Sherlock said, looking at Natalie with more respect. She looked back at him with an unimpressed expression that said  _ You shouldn’t be surprised it’s what I do _ .

Sherlock smirked at this but continued with the explanation after seeing more confused looks from the rest that was gathered.

“At the beginning of the letter he said that a lot had happened in the last two weeks. That some of it was good and a lot of it was bad. We even noticed in the beginning that the last was written very forcefully so I think all of us were prepared for something important to be revealed.” He looked piercingly at the room for confirmation. When everyone seemed to realize what he was talking about and he received a few nods he continued,

“I know I was expecting a long series of unfortunate events that would reveal some grand scheme he ended up stumbling into, thus the reason we would need to read about him. But, alas, the only thing he talked about from the two previous weeks was his grade on a paper and going to the dentist. Nothing else, which begs the question…”

“What did he originally sit down to write about? What was so bad that he felt frenzied enough to write the letter like that. An why did he not talk about it, whatever it is?” Natalie finished for him. The questions pouring out as though anxious to be answered. They would be disappointed, for nobody knew the answer. But they wanted to know. Fury flipped to another letter.


End file.
